Downturned Eyes Makeup Guide: Lifting Techniques That Work

Downturned eyes have a naturally soft, gentle appearance. The outer corners sit lower than the inner corners, which some people love and others want to optically lift. These techniques specifically address the lifting effect — redirecting the eye’s apparent angle without anything permanent.

Identifying Downturned Eyes

Hold a pencil horizontally across your eye area. If the outer corner of your eye falls below the pencil’s line while the inner corner is on or above it, your eyes are downturned. This can be slight (just a few degrees off) or quite pronounced.

Downturned eyes often show more skin at the outer upper eyelid area because the outer corner slopes away. This is actually useful for makeup — it gives you more space to work with at the outer corner.

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Eyeshadow Placement to Lift

Redirect the Crease Upward at the Outer End

Standard rounded crease blending follows the natural shape of the eye — for downturned eyes, this means your blending ends up pulling the eye downward. Instead:

Angle the outer end of the crease blend upward: When you reach the outer corner with your crease shade, don’t follow the lid downward. Push the shadow up and slightly outward toward the tail of the brow. This creates an upward arc in the blending that redirects the eye’s visual direction.

Think of it as a modified “C” shape with the bottom of the C lifted to angle upward, not downward.

Apply Deeper Shade Above the Outer Corner (Not Below)

For downturned eyes, placing your darkest shadow on the outer upper lid — slightly above and outside the outer corner — creates a visual “anchor” point that’s higher than the natural corner. This optically elevates where the eye appears to end.

Avoid placing dark shadow below the outer corner on the lower lash line at the outer edge, as this emphasizes the downward slope.

Keep the Lower Lash Line Light

For the lower eye:

• Apply a soft matte shadow only to the middle section of the lower lash line
• Keep both the inner corner and outer corner of the lower lash line free of dark shadow
• Alternatively, leave the lower lash line completely bare — this is a high-lifts approach that removes any lower-edge weight

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Liner Techniques for Downturned Eyes

The Upward-Angled Wing

This is the most effective single technique for downturned eyes.

How to do it:

1. Apply liner along the upper lash line as normal, keeping it thin
2. When you reach the outer corner, do not follow the lid’s downward slope — stop before the lid dips
3. Extend the liner from the last lash outward and upward at an angle toward the brow tail
4. The wing tip should point toward the outer end of the brow (roughly 30–45 degrees upward from horizontal)

The wing doesn’t correct the actual eye shape — it creates a directional visual cue pointing up, which overrides the eye’s downward direction.

Where to end the liner on the upper lid: Stop applying liner before you reach the very outer corner if that corner dips significantly. Starting the wing before the corner means the wing can go upward rather than having to fight against the downward slope.

Lower Liner: Avoid the Outer Corner

If you want lower lash line definition:

• Use a soft brown shadow on the inner two-thirds of the lower lash line only
• Leave the outer corner clean — adding liner there pulls the eye down
• Or use a light/nude liner on the lower waterline to open the eye without adding downward weight

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Brow Tips for Downturned Eyes

The brow position relative to the eye significantly affects how downturned the eye reads.

Push brow arch toward the outer third: An arch that peaks at the outer portion of the brow creates upward movement above the outer eye area that counterbalances the downward outer corner.

Trim or lighten the tail of the brow: Brow tails that also angle downward reinforce the overall downward direction. A shorter or lighter brow tail keeps the outer face from reading as droopy at two points (brow and eye corner).

Avoid overly flat brows: A flat brow with no arch removes the upward counterpoint above the eye and makes the downturned corner more prominent by comparison.

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Complete Lifting Technique: Step by Step

1. Apply primer
2. Blend transition shade in crease — angle the outer end upward toward brow tail
3. Apply lid color to mobile lid
4. Place deeper shade at outer corner, above rather than following the corner downward
5. Apply upward-angled wing that redirects direction up and outward
6. Apply mascara on upper lashes — curl thoroughly for extra lift
7. Leave lower lash line light or bare at outer corner

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Quick Reference

Zone	What to Do	What to Avoid
Crease outer edge	Angle upward toward brow tail	Rounding down to follow corner
Outer shadow	Place above outer corner	Below outer corner
Lower lash line	Inner half only, or bare	Outer corner shadow or liner
Upper liner	Upward-angled wing	Following natural downward corner
Lower waterline	Nude or bare	Dark liner at outer corner
Brows	Arch toward outer third	Flat or downward-angled tails

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Related Guides

• Fox Eye and Siren Eye Tutorial
• Eyeliner to Make Eyes Look Bigger
• Eyeliner Tutorial: Every Type Explained
• Round Eyes Makeup Guide
• Almond Eyes Makeup Guide

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Sources

• Face Forward, Kevin Aucoin (Little, Brown, 2000)
• Charlotte Tilbury Makeup Masterclass — Eye shape technique guides
• NikkieTutorials — Downturned eye tutorial (YouTube 2022)